German police release photofits of man and his teeth

A man who hacked off a dentist's finger during a robbery is being hunted by police using an artist's impression of his dirty, twisted teeth. The image of the mugger's teeth was created by police artists in Fichtenwalde, Germany, working with victim Markus Phillipp Daecher, 42, who told investigators he couldn't take his eyes off the crook's bad nicotine-stained teeth.



Two hoodie-wearing men - both aged around 20 - had burst into the surgery and slammed the dentist's head against a door frame before putting the index finger of his left hand in a pair of garden shears and demanding cash. The pair had spoken broken German, he said. Even after he'd handed over his wallet, the crook in the tooth photofit hacked off the victim's finger, and then took it with him as he made off, say police.

"The victim spends all day studying people's mouths so it's no surprise that the man's teeth are what he recalls best," said a police spokesman. After doing a drawing of the man's face - the dentist then gave a much more detailed description of his mouth including a huge spot on his lip. The dentist had finished work and had gone to a shop next door to his surgery - and was attacked when he returned to lock up by the men who were waiting outside.



The attack has baffled police for its brutality and because it was still broad daylight when the dentist had returned to lock up for the evening. He gave himself first aid and then sought help in a nearby shopping centre from a security guard who called police. They said the dentist had collapsed from shock when they arrived and he had been taken to Potsdam for treatment. Despite an extensive search, there was no trace of the finger.